KAFFEINE / Placemaking, Travel & Tourism

Hard Rock Cafe case study

27 March 2020

Challenge

Iconic food and lifestyle brand Hard Rock Cafe was evolving its brand. Kallaway was tasked with launching its revamped cafe design and menu in its new European flagship restaurant at its famous Piccadilly Circus site.

How could we attract a younger, cool-hunter demographic, without alienating the music lovers and families who love the brand’s rock association and its time-honoured Old Park Lane location? 

Our Smart Imagination solution

Our ‘Has to be Hard Rock’ – solution positioned Hard Rock Café as London’s ultimate experiential dining destination, fusing great times with great food and iconic music legends.

We devised an intensive, targeted media strategy that addressed widespread national audiences, while tapping into cool-hunters and foodies through influencer engagement:

Pre-launch buzz

• Targeted interviews with Hard Rock’s longest standing waitress of 48 years, Rita Gilligan, resulted in ITV and BBC London broadcast and online coverage.
• Unveiling the restaurant’s new rock memorabilia and a photoshoot featuring a mass of Harley Davidsons ‘ride by’ the new brand flagship generated national newspaper reach and wide social engagement.  

Dual-targeting opening night party

• Engaging the younger demographic:
  • We secured over 100 guests, including stars from rock and pop as well as reality TV, media and influencers to cover the party and new menu on their channels for their younger audience.
  • Our video of the red carpet launch maximised reach potential amongst cool-hunters and, along with our news release, delivered widespread national coverage, from Mail Online to OK!

• Reaching older audiences:
  • Setting up traditional broadcasting from the red carpet, such as via ITV London, meant we also reached Hard Rock’s more traditional target market.   

 Results

• 263 media stories
• 186 social media posts from the Grand Opening Party invitees, providing a potential organic reach of 5,984,491
• Sell-out bookings at the new flagship and Old Park Lane.
• Major calendar moments such as Thanksgiving and NFL events over subscribed.

Thank you for all you have done to deliver such a great campaign. The results of have been amazing and keep coming!You guys ROCK!“ Sarah Handy, Sales & Marketing Manager, Hard Rock Cafe